Life and Fallen

"..."

At this strange request, both women's expressions turned rather odd. Had Lin Shan been behind their earlier loss of consciousness?

No wonder it was him standing before them now instead of an anomaly...

Suddenly, Xia Xuan noticed something strapped to Lin Shan's back. Was that a chicken? But it was far too big. She asked hesitantly, "What are you carrying?"

"Chickens. I caught them on the way. I want to take them back and raise them, see if they can lay eggs." Lin Shan casually brought the two chickens from his back around in front of him.

"These chickens are huge." Xia Xuan poked one with a finger, her face a picture of speechless astonishment.

"They must taste delicious." Looking at the two chickens, Zhao Xiao An couldn't help salivating. Eating vegetables every day, she had almost forgotten what meat tasted like.

"They taste pretty good," Lin Shan replied. "But I'm planning to raise these two and see if they can lay eggs."

"Can you let me raise them?" Xia Xuan asked, then patted her chest. "I'm a professional when it comes to animal husbandry."

Lin Shan glanced at her. Surely she wasn't making excuses because she wanted to eat the chickens he had caught?

Zhao Xiao An blinked and smiled. "Xia Xuan is amazing. She looks after all the animals in camp, and she even tamed this horse."

Partners in crime?

Lin Shan thought it over and said, "I might not have the time anyway, so it would be great if you could raise them." Then he added, "These are Transcendence Chickens..."

"It's fine." Before Lin Shan could finish, Xia Xuan interrupted him. "We've reached Transcendence too. Surely we can beat a chicken."

A faint white spiritual glow shimmered over Xia Xuan's body. Though very thin, it was indeed the gauzy spiritual mantle of Transcendence-albeit with the word "pseudo" tacked on in front.

Sensing its spiritual fluctuations, Lin Shan couldn't help doubting whether she could really beat the chickens behind him. Their spirituality was a little stronger than hers.

Still, it probably wouldn't be a problem. With him around, these chickens couldn't turn the heavens upside down.

"Then I'll leave the chickens to you," Lin Shan said, reminding her, "Be careful."

The three chatted along the way and soon spotted a bonfire with a dozen or so people gathered around it. Beyond the firelight, they could faintly make out a row of wooden huts.

"We're back! Look who this is!" Zhao Xiao An shouted toward the bonfire while they were still a dozen meters away.

"Why are you back so late? We were just about to go looking for you," came Zhang Zhonghua's voice.

"Are you... Lin Shan?" someone sharp-eyed exclaimed. "You're still alive!"

Everyone was astonished. Surviving half a year in the ash fog was nothing short of a miracle.

Wu Wang and Jin Tianzong came over and hugged him outright. Wu Wang said excitedly, "Lin, I can't believe you're still alive! Where have you been these past six months?"

Lin Shan pried his hands away in disgust. Even Zhao Xiao An didn't hug me, yet you managed to get your hands on me.

He smiled. "Let's sit down and talk."

Everyone made room for Lin Shan, staring at him in amazement, their eyes full of anticipation. Clearly, they all wanted to hear his story.

Lin Shan noticed that the people sitting around the bonfire weren't all human. There were catfolk too, both men and women, though the Green-Robed Cat Girl he had first met wasn't there.

With everyone staring expectantly at him, Lin Shan felt a little awkward. What grand story did he have? He had merely slept for half a year.

Picking out what he could share and leaving out the Parchment, he told them everything he could. They listened with rapt interest, never expecting him to have encountered so many bizarre things in just two days. The ash fog truly was a land of death.

"So you've truly reached Transcendence now?" Zhang Zhonghua asked.

"That's right." Lin Shan nodded without deliberately displaying his abilities.

Dinner ended pleasantly amid everyone's laughter. After recounting his experiences, Lin Shan kept his head down, eating the gray steamed bun in his hands without saying anything more.

That night, Jin Tianzong invited Lin Shan to sleep in his wooden hut, where he had a spare bed. Though Lin Shan felt a little awkward, he nodded in agreement.

At dusk, Lin Shan went to Zhang Zhonghua's hut and found Wu Wang there too.

He got straight to the point. "I still have some ingredients left. I can help all of you reach Transcendence. Get yourselves ready, and I'll gather some more ingredients over the next few days."

The only ingredient missing was Specter Thread Fish ash. With his current abilities, gathering another 100 grams shouldn't be a problem as long as he was careful.

As for helping everyone reach Transcendence, he had already decided on that during his journey. For him, it was merely a matter of showing them the way, and he had extra ingredients anyway. For the others, however, it was their guarantee of survival in this other world.

He was no saint, but there were only this handful of people left in the entire world. Thinking about weakening his teammates at a time like this would be idiotic. Besides, since they were all Pioneers, they might well have opportunities of their own. If he helped them first now... sometimes a favor given freely was the hardest to repay. Barring any surprises, his position would be elevated straight into the core of the Human Race.

There was another reason: he wanted to go further along the path of Transcendence and pursue higher sequences. He didn't want to look back someday and find he had no one left to talk to.

"You go. The three of us with fallen physiques can stay here to welcome the humans who will soon cross over. Without strength, you can't take a single step in this Ash Fog World, much less lead the Human Race," Jin Tianzong said.

"What's a fallen physique? And is the great wave of people crossing over about to arrive?" Lin Shan asked in confusion.

Zhang Zhonghua explained, "This information came from the Cat Clan. We're cooperating with them now-or rather, they're cooperating with the future Human Race, not with us."

"According to the Cat Clan, nine months after the Pioneers cross over, our people will begin crossing over one after another. They'll arrive scattered throughout the Ash Fog World. This world is boundless. If they're unlucky, they could encounter an anomaly the moment they arrive and be wiped out entirely..."

After a pause, Zhang Zhonghua continued, "That Jade Tome is called a Clan Artifact. Some of our people will definitely cross over near the Clan Artifact. We don't know exactly how many, but the crossings will continue. It won't just happen here. Countless Human Race settlements will be scattered among the settlements of the myriad races throughout the Ash Fog World. Encountering a friendly race like the Cat Clan is fine, but if they encounter races with sinister intentions, you can imagine their fate."

Hearing this, Lin Shan was puzzled. "What will the people who arrive elsewhere do without a Clan Artifact to disperse the ash fog? Will they have to live in it?"

"A Clan Artifact condenses from a race's collective fortune. Once the population reaches a certain number, a clan artifact projection will form. The strength of its effects depends on the number of people. That's how it works for the Cat Clan beside us. What they're using isn't the actual Clan Artifact," Zhang Zhonghua explained.

"How many years has the Cat Clan been developing here?" Lin Shan asked.

"This branch of their people has been in this world for a full 180 years."

"How far have they developed in 180 years?" Lin Shan pressed.

"They're still in the agricultural age, without a complete industrial system. And that's with more of their people crossing over all along and bringing advanced knowledge." Then he added, "The technological level of their original world wasn't inferior to ours. There are differences, but they basically have everything we have."

With the complete legacy of a civilization, they had spent 180 years and still remained in the agricultural age. Their progress could hardly have been slower. There had to be something hindering their development.

"Then what does fallen physique mean?" He recalled the fallen physique Wu Wang had mentioned earlier.

Zhang Zhonghua said slowly:

"This is also information we got from the cats. Every living creature is born with a particular constitution, either a life physique or a fallen physique. Each corresponds to one of two potion sequences. Potions whose main ingredients are natural treasures belong to the life physique sequence, while those whose main ingredients are Fallen belong to the fallen physique sequence. The two sequences have different focuses. Life physiques wield all sorts of strange spiritual powers, while fallen physiques can transform into Fallen and possess extremely powerful bodies."

"The test is simple. If your pure spirituality carries a gray glow, you have a fallen physique. If it glows white, you have a life physique."

"Mages and warriors?" Lin Shan summed it up in a few words.

"Exactly." Zhang Zhonghua nodded. "Fallen physiques can only be warriors, but life physiques can be mages or support types. It mainly depends on their sequence abilities."

Lin Shan nodded in understanding.